The 29th Annual start of the Iron Dog Pro Class race begins Sunday, February 19, 2012 at Big Lake, Alaska. The entire list of dates and times can be seen here. Remember, the deadline for entry has been moved to October 31, 2011. www.irondograce.org

The Polaris team of Tyler Huntington and Chris Olds made it two wins in a row at this year's Iron Dog. Photo: JOHN WAGNER / Fairbanks Daily News-Miner via The Associated Press

“Me and Dusty (Van Meter, who finished sixth) were talking at the banquet about getting top Lower 48 guys to come up and race. But we race totally different. They don’t like the high speed and low visibility — the trees and moguls. They’re a totally different breed — and we feel like we’re the top guys in the world up here.

“I think Polaris sees that and is going to get involved 10-fold next year.”

Cory Davis finished 5th in the USCC I-500 this year. He'll have to race a lot farther at the Iron Dog.

Cool story about Cory Davis from ADN:

Cory Davis of Soldotna is the winner of a pair of Winter X Games medals for snowmachining, an achievement which makes him a big deal in just about any circle.

Unless his dad also happens to be in that circle.

Davis, 22, is the son of Iron Dog maestro Scott Davis, who has won more Iron Dog titles than anyone (seven, a record shared by John Faeo), started more Iron Dog races than anyone (26) and finished more Iron Dog races than anyone (20).

St. Cloud, Minnesota February 15, 2011 – Two of the most powerful snowmobile racing teams are joining forces to take on three of the toughest snowmobile races. Warnert Racing, one of the most experienced snocross racing teams in the lower forty eight, and Team CC, one of the most experienced cross country racing teams in Alaska, are announcing their partnership for three cross country races in February, March and April this season.

Seven-time Iron Dog champ Scott Davis won't have much time to drink coffee at this year's event.

Cory Davis and Scott Davis have announced they are racing the 2011 Iron Dog as a team. Cory is a standout on the ISOC National snocross circuit and has scored a handful of wins on the USCC cross-country circuit. Davis has seven Iron Dog titles to his name. Whether or not Cory runs the race with him depends on how fast his foot heals (see sledRacer story on that here.

Nineteen teams have already signed up to run the 2011 Iron Dog and the promoters hope they surpass last year’s total of 29 teams. For more info on the Iron Dog click here.

New Exectutive Director wants Iron Dog to be the biggest extreme winter event on the planet

Attempting to leap into the future without abandoning its past, the Iron Dog board of directors has hired a technology-savvy executive director who aims to broaden the appeal of the world’s longest and toughest snowmachine race.

Kevin Kastner, 40, has lived in Alaska since 1996 and worked at GCI until 2005 as an Internet content manager. He was cofounder and vice president of Alaska HDTV until January and worked briefly for Starbucks as a new media and Web development manager.

Kastner topped more than a dozen candidates, according to Jim Wilke, vice president of the board.